Office of the Governor - Press Office

OWENS, SALAZAR ANNOUNCE K-12 CLOSING THE LEARNING GAP COALITION

DENVER – Governor Bill Owens and Attorney General Ken Salazar today formally launched a statewide Closing the Learning Gap Coalition aimed at lifting the educational achievement of children of poverty and color.

"Improving learning for our neediest children must be at the heart of Colorado’s education reform," said Governor Owens. "It is not acceptable to say that a poor child or minority child can’t learn. They can learn and it is my goal that we leave no child behind."

Attorney General Ken Salazar stated, "Public commitment to this cause is the beginning of success. ‘All children can learn’ can’t just be a slogan. We must make it a reality."

According to October 2000 CSAP results, only 48 percent of African American and 49 percent of Hispanic third-graders in Colorado were proficient or advanced in reading. By comparison, 78 percent of Colorado’s Caucasian third-graders were proficient or advanced. The number of Colorado students who graduated or completed their high school education in 1999 consisted of 75.4 percent African American, 67.3 percent Hispanic, and 85.5 percent Caucasian.

The goal of the Coalition is to close the education learning gap between the haves and the have-nots. The achievement gap between these two groups is a chasm that jeopardizes our goal to make sure no child is left behind.

To do this, the Coalition will put together various projects and submit regular reports that will provide an update on the progress of these projects. The coalition will focus on a range of strategies such as e-learning and partnerships with community-based organizations to help address the needs of Colorado’s poorest schools.

For example, teachers have shown that providing opportunities for teachers’ professional development in areas of literacy, data-driven instruction and collaborative learning communities can increase student achievement.

A year in the planning, the coalition originally brought together minority leaders from across the state to build unity on behalf of better educational results for poor children. The broad based coalition includes business people, heads of statewide organizations, clergy, local school board members, and community leaders. Currently it is expanding to include legislative leaders and others in the wider community.

Throughout the planning phase, both the State Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education have offered support as the Coalition developed issues and strategies.

Governor Owens further noted that "Aiding those children least well served by our education system has been central to our program from the beginning. Today’s announcement underlines that commitment."

Attorney General Salazar, who during the last year has visited schools in every Colorado County, noted, "The learning gap is to be found all across our state. It is a challenge all of us must take up."

Both the Governor and the Attorney General stressed the need for strong bipartisan support of this cause. In that spirit House Speaker Doug Dean and Senate President Stan Matsunaka are working together on a Joint Resolution expressing support for making Closing the Learning Gap a central goal of educational accountability in Colorado.

For more information about the Coalition, please call Erlinda Archuleta, Director of the Center for At-Risk Education at 303/866-6638.

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last modified August 22, 2001